Saving Grace (4 page)

“Thank you,” Grace said, her words choked
with emotion.

“You’re doing the right thing, John,” Jack
told his Alpha. “You can tell them you’ve got my vote of
support.”

Grace looked at Jack, realizing what his
words must mean. “You’re on the town council?”

Jack smiled at her. “The town council is just
a fancy name for the guys in our old unit. We all have a vote in
what goes on in this town.”

John stood and smiled at her too. “I may be
the Alpha, but I’m not a despot. Bears aren’t so easily led. We’re
a little too independent to just follow anyone blindly. The
position of Alpha is more ceremonial among us than other
species.”

“John is the Alpha because he’s probably the
smartest of us,” Jack said, giving his friend a compliment. “He’s
also really good at paperwork.” They both chuckled at that. “But we
all get a say in the big decisions.”

Grace was impressed. She’d thought
land-dwelling shifters used more of a hierarchy and deferred to
their Alphas uniformly. From their words, it sounded like there
were differences in how each of the different kinds of shifters
worked their groups.

“Well…” John said, resting his hands on the
back of the wooden chair, looking at her. “That’s all, really. I
just wanted to meet you and get a read on your beliefs. My bear is
a pretty good judge of character, and he likes you. You can thank
my furry side for offering sanctuary to you and your people. He and
I both know what it’s like to have no clear line of retreat. We’re
offering you one. Here. With us. You can stay until it’s safe again
for you in the ocean.”

She tried to stand, but her knees were too
weak. Jack placed his hand over hers on the table. She met his
gaze, and he was shaking his head, frowning at her. She gave up
trying to move and just looked up at the Alpha.

“Thank you. For myself and for my people. I
don’t know if any of them will wash ashore like I did, but if they
do, I’m glad to know they’ll be welcome here. It’s a dark day,
indeed, when even the vast ocean isn’t safe.” She thought quickly
about how to get the word out to her people beneath the waves. “I
know there are at least two fishing boats that leave your cove most
days,” she began hesitantly, still thinking through the
possibilities. “I’m not sure how, but maybe, if your men still
insist on fishing, there might be a way to get word to my hunting
party?”

John sighed. “Yeah, despite the danger, a
couple of the guys do still go out fishing. I’ll tell them to keep
an eye out. If you can think of a way of attracting your people’s
attention that doesn’t involve magic—which would probably also
attract the creature—then let me know.”

“I’ll think about it some more, but I know my
friend, Jetty, watches the one who takes his boat far from shore. I
teased her about it. You could tell him to try calling her name and
mentioning me. She might respond.”

“All right. I’ll tell him. Meanwhile, you
rest up and heal. I’ll call if there’s any news of your people.”
John turned his attention to Jack. “You’re off the duty roster for
now. I’ll have the other guys fill in.”

“Thanks, John.” Jack rose to shake the
Alpha’s hand and walk him to the door.

While they were in the other room, Grace took
stock. The Alpha bear was certainly a lot different than she’d
expected. In fact, these bears were nothing like she’d thought
they’d be. They were much warmer…friendlier…than she would have
believed. For such ferocious creatures, they were really more like
teddy bears than the man-eaters she’d seen fishing near the
shore.

Oh, she knew they were deadly when riled. So
was she. But they were also men with occupations, sensitivity and
compassion. She could respect that.

In fact, she found herself almost
irresistibly drawn to her rescuer, Jack. He was handsome, to be
sure, but he was also kind and caring. He’d been willing to take a
risk to help her, and that counted for a lot in her books. He was
also sexy as all get out, and it had been far too long since she’d
been involved with a man.

Could a land shifter and a mer mix? She had
no idea, but she definitely wanted to give it a try…if Jack was
willing.

Jack was really happy with the outcome of the
meeting. John had gone farther than Jack had expected, going out on
a limb to offer sanctuary to any mer needing it. That was a big
step, and showed John was willing to take a risk if it might help
save innocent lives.

But then, John was a good guy. Half the
reason they’d all chosen to follow him as Alpha was because they
could count on him when times were tough. He’d never leave a man
behind. And he wouldn’t turn his back on someone who needed
help.

Jack returned to the kitchen to find his
mermaid practically nodding off in her soup. Poor girl was tired.
No. Tired wasn’t the word for it. She was exhausted. Running out of
gas as he watched her.

“Probably time for you to go back to bed,” he
said, stepping to her side.

She looked up at him, and he could see the
dark circles under her pretty eyes.

“You’re right. I think I’ve been running on
adrenaline for the past ten minutes. I was a little…uh…apprehensive
about meeting your Alpha.” She sat back in her chair and brushed
her hair back from her face. “I’m glad he turned out to be such a
nice guy.”

Jack had to laugh. “Oh yeah, Big John’s a
regular ol’ teddy bear. You should see him with a grenade launcher
in his hands.”

She giggled, and he found the sound
enchanting. His inner bear wanted to rub up against her and hear
the sound again. The beast inside him was fast becoming attached to
the mermaid, and Jack wasn’t sure whether to be overjoyed at
finding a woman his finicky bear actually liked and wanted, or
afraid that he was about to have his heart broken by a fickle fish
who wouldn’t stay on land.

Wasn’t that the way all those old stories
ended? The mermaid swims off, leaving her broken-hearted lover on
the shore. Jack feared very much that’s how he was going to end up,
but for the life of him, he couldn’t stop thinking about being with
her—giving a relationship with her a try.

And Jack wasn’t the kind of guy who’d ever
thought about having a
relationship
with a woman. He was
very much a love ‘em and leave ‘em sort of bear, never sticking
with one female for more than a few days or weeks at a time. The
moment they started to get clingy, he was gone, his bear roaring to
be free.

But not with Grace. Something about her made
his inner bear want to be around her. She brought out his
protective instincts, for sure. That was a given, considering how
he’d found her.

There was more, though. A lot more. Every
moment he was in her company, the attraction seemed to escalate,
morphing into something a lot more complicated than simple
attraction.

She lurched forward in her chair and then
staggered to her feet. Jack put his hands out to steady her.

“Are you sure you can make it back to the
bedroom?” he asked, truly concerned for her welfare. She didn’t
look as strong as she had only a few minutes before, which was to
say, she looked weak as a kitten.

“Uh…actually…I’m not too sure.”

That was all he had to hear. He stepped
closer and scooped her into his arms.

“Hang on, honey,” he told her, loving the
feel of her in his arms. She placed her arms around his neck, and
something inside him roared in triumph. She was leaning against
him, her head on his shoulder, and he didn’t ever want to let her
go.

Whoa.
Those were some heavy thoughts,
right there. He tried not to think about what it might mean while
he walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the guest room
he’d put at her disposal.

He placed her gently on the edge of the bed.
He let her feet dangle off the side and sat next to her, his arm
still around her shoulder, helping prop her up.

“Do you want to make a pit stop or shall we
just tuck you in again?”

“I’m okay for now. How about we just sit and
talk for a minute?” He was surprised by her request, but willing to
do whatever she liked.

“I can do that.” He left his arm around her,
and she didn’t object, which satisfied him on some primal level.
“What’s on your mind?”

She tilted her head to look up at him. “I
want to know more about your people. About you. I know very little
about other kinds of shifters—especially the land-based ones.”

Was she flirting with him?
Nah. That
was probably just his wishful thinking.

“What do you want to know?”

“Do you hibernate in the winter?” She waited
a beat, then burst out laughing, and he liked the teasing light in
her eye.

“Considering it’s officially winter right
now, you’re lucky I don’t.” He laughed along with her for a moment.
“Although…I’ve heard that if you live more in your fur than your
skin, some shifters can live among their wild brethren. Mostly
they’re sad stories where someone loses a mate or their family, or
some other emotional disaster, and they shift and stay that way for
months on end, living wild. In that case, the animal side takes
over, protecting the human side. I think if that happened to a bear
shifter, and it happened to be winter, he might seek a nice warm
den to hibernate away the coldest days. I mean, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, when you put it that way…” She
followed his change in mood from playful to contemplative. “Losing
a mate must be awful. I could see where staying in your fur would
be preferable to facing the human world without your lover by your
side.”

“We, like many other shifters, mate for life.
Once we find our mates, we don’t like to be away from them for any
length of time.” The mood between them changed again. It was
suddenly more…intimate.

“It’s like that for us too,” she
whispered.

She leaned into him, her face raised to his
so perfectly. He couldn’t resist. He lowered his lips to hers and
was immediately swept up in the most devastating encounter he had
ever experienced. Devastating because it rocked his world off its
foundations and made him rethink what he’d thought his future might
hold.

No human woman could feel this good in his
arms or taste so sweet. No shifter woman had ever knocked his socks
off like this with a mere kiss. The mermaid, however… She changed
his perceptions of reality and reformed his ideas into something
more magical than he had ever contemplated.

It was like their energies met and sparked
off each other, then settled into a swirling dance of opposites
that…attracted. Definitely attracted.

The moment the energy settled down, he pulled
her fully into his arms and deepened the kiss. Each new level of
intimacy was met with little tingles and a sizzle that eventually
settled down into a delicious buzz between them, which heightened
every response and drove him onward.

His hands stroked her back, smoothing her
long hair. She was so beautiful. He’d thought so from the moment
she’d awakened and looked at him with those deep blue eyes. He
could happily drown in those eyes and never regret it.

If she let him.

He was very aware of the fact that she was a
mermaid. All the old legends about such creatures ended in
heartache for the man foolish enough to fall in love with one.
Occasionally, the mermaid herself was left broken-hearted too.
Either way, none of those old stories ended happily.

It would be up to both of them to see if they
could give their personal story a happy ending. For his part, now
that he’d tasted her lips and sampled the way their energies
collided, then meshed into something stronger and deliciously
appealing… Well, he was on board. He would pursue her and try his
best to make her fall in love with him.

The proverbial ball, as it were, was in her
court. He—and his bear—were pretty much convinced that they could
make a go of it together, if she gave them a chance.

The bear wasn’t saying
mate
just yet,
but it was awfully close. Jack could feel his inner bear’s
conflict. He wanted her to be the one, but he knew this woman was
unlike any other they had ever encountered. This woman would not be
taken or told. She had to be wooed, and she had to consciously
choose him.

Asking her to live on land with him would be
asking her to give up a lot. He would also have to trust that when
she did go to the sea, she would come back to him.

That kind of relationship took time to
develop. Jack was usually a patient man, but with Grace in his
arms, he knew his patience wasn’t going to last long. Perhaps he
could seduce her into the initial stages of agreement.

No. That didn’t feel right. If they were
going to do this, they had to start off on the firm foundation of
honesty, not seduction.

Using all his willpower, Jack eased off on
the kiss, pulling back and letting her go by small degrees. But he
didn’t let her go far. He kept his arm around her, supporting her,
feeling her warmth as he looked deep into her eyes.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he
admitted, starting as he meant to go on—with honesty between
them.

“What if I told you, I’d been thinking about
it too?” she asked shyly, giving him a little Mona Lisa smile that
nearly melted his socks.

He felt his bear stirring as a satisfied
growl sounded in his chest. The bear did that sometimes. He watched
her reaction carefully. Was she disgusted that his animal was so
close to the surface?

Grace’s delicate hand rose to his chest,
landing over his heart. “I like that sound,” she whispered. “I like
that you’re not human. And I like the way our magics dance with
each other.”

“That’s a nice way of describing it. I’ve
never felt anything like that before. You?” He promised himself he
was going to try his best not to be jealous if she’d experienced
this all before with some loser who’d let her go.